All of our daily actions make up who we are and how we navigate through life. Every habit, good and bad, counts toward how we live our life. Personal growth, learning, and being intentional every single day is so important to living a purposeful and fulfilled life. If we spend most of our time fussing about every little setback and aimlessly reacting to what happens to us in life, rather than paying attention and being mindful of how we are spending our time and how we respond in certain situations, then we are not going to feel as happy or fulfilled at the end of the day.

So here are some fussy habits that I think we should all break now in order to live a more intentional and fulfilled, fuss-free life:

Stop obsessive thinking Constantly replaying and obsessing over negative situations is such a toxic habit to have. It rarely leads to new insights or solutions on how to handle certain problems. Instead of constantly obsessing over the negative, we should throw away the negative thought or situation and reflect on how we could handle it differently in the future. Focusing on the positive and identifying the source of your anxiety regarding the situation will also help.

Stop letting minor details or setbacks upset you We can’t control everything that happens to us in life. But what we can control is how we react to certain situations. Practicing mindfulness everyday is essential in how we react. Focusing on the here and now can help us focus on the task or situation at hand.

Stop worrying This is something I struggle with in my journey to being un-fussy. And let’s face it, worrying gets us absolutely nowhere. Worrying and obsessing sometimes can go hand it hand. Constantly replaying things and worrying about everything comes with the territory of being an adult and a mom. When we get a moment to actually think during the day, it’s like worry and obsessing on overload. Something that I have tried to help manage these worries is having a “worry break.” When I get a moment or start getting overwhelmed I try to actually physically write down everything that is on my mind…once it’s written down I can then figure out what can get done now and what can’t get resolved until later and it puts my mind at ease.

Stop comparing yourself to other people Comparing ourselves to other people is a natural habit we have grown accustomed to, especially with the rise of social media. One person’s carefully curated and edited depiction of their life may not be their actual reality. It’s easy to forget that our only competition is ourself. We are completely different and unique individuals and how we live our lives with our own unique story and we shouldn’t compare our story with someone else’s.

Stop letting people or situations influence your mood or feelingsYou can’t change how people react in their own lives to certain situations but you can be mindful of how certain situations and other people’s reactions affect you. This goes back to being mindful and intentional everyday and focusing on the here and now.

Stop saying “yes” when you want to say “no”Finding your voice and learning to say what we want to say is very important in how we live our life. We want to be able to make wise decisions in order to move us toward our goals and to our purpose. We don’t want to take on too much in our life to the point of being overwhelmed and we can’t enjoy the things that truly make us happy and fulfilled. Knowing who we are and committing to our personal choices by saying “yes” to the things we want to do and saying “no” to the things we don’t is key in living our most intentional and fulfilled life.

Habits To Do

Be patient with others and yourselfPracticing patience is really hard for me…I’m naturally and genetically an un-patient person. Besides being a worry-wort, lack of patience is the other part of me that makes me want to strive for this un-fussy way of living my life. Reminding myself to cut myself and others some slack when it comes to certain situations is something I work on everyday.

“Let It Go!”Let go of negative thoughts and situations. You can’t change the past but you can change how things affect you going forward.

Celebrate small winsIf you’re on a long journey to a certain goal, then don’t wait to celebrate small accomplishments toward that goal. Treating ourselves or others and acknowledgement for smaller successes will attract more accomplishments and successes!

An affirmation is a declaration that something exists or is true. Positive daily affirmations are a great tool to power through negative thoughts and emotions. Practicing daily affirmations is a great way to put our minds at ease by creating a strong, positive statement that we tell ourselves “everything is ok”, despite the worry and negative thoughts that flood our minds daily. By doing this we are replacing our negative thoughts with positive ones and taking back control of our worries and anxieties.

I have created a list of un-fussy daily affirmations that I think are a powerful statement for anyone who is striving to live a more simple, calm, more intentional, focused, fuss-free way of life…Enjoy!

It’s the start of a new year and with that comes new goals, resolutions, and reflections on the past year that has quickly come and gone. When they say “the days are long and the years are short” they weren’t kidding! Something I started in the new year of 2016 was focusing on a word that would define my year and be something I wanted to focus more on in every area of my life. Last year’s word was “Mindful.” I wanted to be more intentional in being a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a co-worker and I wanted to focus on what really mattered. As 2016 was coming to an end I wanted to reflect on the year and start thinking about all the things in store for 2017 while continuing to be mindful, but wanted to focus on something more in the new year. I am expecting baby number two in March, the house needs major de-cluttering and cleaning, and I’m constantly feeling stressed and overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done before our little nugget arrives…enter fussy mama! The word “fussy” can be defined as a state of being “anxiously worried with details in excess” and “particularly hard to satisfy or please.” We as moms and well women in general, I feel, are genetically wired to be fussy individuals. We constantly have various things on our plates…obligations, activities, day-to-day responsibilities that we strive to make perfect. We stress, worry, and increasingly dwell on the details that we tend to forget to live in the moment and take in what really matters in our everyday lives.

Now if you ask my husband, and anyone who knows me really well, they would probably tell you that I’m one of the fussiest people they know! I tend to let things get to me and stress me out, I get overwhelmed quickly, and am always anxious about every little detail to the point where it makes me physically and mentally drained and unpleasant to be around. It really hit me one day last year when I just said out loud to myself “I’m so fussy that I’m frustrating and annoying myself!” And then it hit me like a brick wall crashing down on me…I was flashing back to the years past since having Lilly and really having a revelation that when I get in my fussy state, I am very unpleasant to be around and nothing that I want to get done was getting done productively and I was finding myself in this state all of the time! I know our life is going to quickly change in the next couple of months, more stress is going to be added with the addition of a new baby and the three page long to-do list that needs to get done before his arrival and with all of that I have vowed to make a change for myself and my family. I want to be “un-fussy” in 2017! I want to be more patient, relaxed, easygoing, mindful, content, intentional, focused, open, un-cluttered, and live my life with a purpose. I want to focus and be mindful of what is really important in life and live everyday intentionally for myself, my husband, my kids, and everyone around me.

I have no idea where this un-fussy journey is going to take me this year, but I do know that I can’t wait to find out. Since the ringing in of 2017 I have woken up every morning and said to myself, “Let’s be un-fussy today” and just by doing that I have been more aware of how I communicate and deal with what the day has in store. I also end everyday by writing down one good thought of the day and it really has changed the way I handle and reflect on each day. Join me on this movement to be more “un-fussy” and see how we can strive for a simpler, more content, fuss-free way of life!